Source: Is Tesla Working on a Cheap, 300-Mile "Metal Air" Battery? | MIT Technology Review This is the technology that makes my day along with liquid reactant batteries. Their energy density and ability to rapidly replace the reactants . . . this is the way to go. Bob Wilson
Tesla has a lot of battery engineering talent onboard. Filing for patents, even for things they don't plan to use themselves, is just good practice.
The prius dumps very little out other than water and carbon dioxide. These typically do nothing to local health concerns. In LA a prius's pollution control may actually put out cleaner air than goes in The good thing about metal air is it is light, the bad thing is cycle life, but.... give a car a 90 mile range in its lithium battery, then then metal air battery does not need to cycle much, only on long trips. Say you only get 200 cycles out of a metal air battery then need to recycle the metal, it may work out for many buyers that don't often take long trips. I doubt the super chargers would work on a metal air battery though, which may be a problem if going over 400 miles per day.
An ICE car filters or catalyzes most of the bad stuff out of the exhaust. Carbon dioxide has its issues, but little impact on the immediate environment when emitted. These batteries produce oxides. It has been suggested that dumping overboard would improve vehicle efficiency by reducing weight. Since the batteries are reacting with oxygen in the air, they are actually getting heavier with use. At least, dumping the oxides means losing the ability to recycle them, but there can be further impact. They are generally of low reactivity, but I don't think there are many studies on their effect when breathed in. Then what effect they will have streams when eventually washed into them.
Sorry gang, I was trying to be funny. Failure. Whether good stuff or bad, our transportation leaves byproducts behind. Except maybe a Plug in powered by the sun or wind. Even my bike may be more toxic than a PIP since the food that powers it is transported by pretty dirty trucks. I appreciate the battery education.
